Love Finds A Way
by Elemental Awesomeness
Summary: Single mother Katara isn't looking for love again. Between parenting, work, and her hopes of going back to school, romance isn't her priority. But when someone comes calling from her past, is she willing to love again? A modern Zutara fic.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or any of its characters.

Prologue June 2006

_Zuko's eyes fluttered open in the early morning hours. His heart plummeted when he realized he had to leave soon to catch the plane. He placed a chaste kiss on Katara's neck and shoulder before unwrapping his arms from her body. Katara gave a contented moan. Zuko quickly dressed, removed his suitcase and bags from the closet and then left leaving the apartment keys behind. _End of prologue

"Mommy, come on!" 5 year old Lily ran ahead of her mother.

"Lily slow down," Katara called after her.

Lily bounced on her toes as she waited for her mother to catch up. Katara seated herself on one of the park benches while Lily ran off to play on the playground. Pulling out her book Katara couldn't help but notice someone standing a few feet away on the pavement. The man had shaggy dark hair, was wearing a red t shirt and jeans. He looked awfully familiar. No, it can't be, Katara thought. As the man made his way up the bike path Katara got a view of the man's other eye. Her heart stopped, that unmistakable scar. Katara took a deep breath trying to remain calm, yet a million thoughts ran through her head. She tried to redirect her attention to her book but couldn't. What was Zuko doing here after all these years? Katara couldn't take her eyes away from hi,. He looked as handsome as he did the first time she met him back in high school. Zuko didn't even know he had a daughter. He had been gone by then.

_2006_

_Katara was sitting on a bench on campus when someone came up behind her and gave her a kiss on the neck. "Zuko!" she giggled looking around to make sure no one was watching. "Oh come on you know you like it," he said. Katara couldn't help but grin. _

2012

Katara sometimes thought about the old days, but tried not to dwell on it. She thought about Zuko as she and Lily walked home. After giving Lily her bath and putting her to bed Katara seated herself at the kitchen table and retrieved Lily's kindergarten registration forms. She read all the info about the curriculum that was going to be taught. Pulling out the fill in register sheets, she needed Lily's birth certificate to fill in some of the information. Katara had purposely left Zuko's name out of the document because he wasn't deserving of the title. Katara was the one who changed Lily's diapers, stayed up with her at night, and dried her tears. She tried to give Lily everything a parent should but couldn't give her a father.

Lily resembled her father more than her mother. The only thing she inherited from Katara was her complexion everything else was purely Zuko's. Lily had a right to know who her daddy was and she couldn't keep Lily a secret forever from Zuko. After filling out all the forms Katara fell asleep. The next morning Katara helped Lily get ready ready to go to her grandparents'. Hakoda and Gran Gran watched Lily during the day in those summer months.

"Grandpa!" Lily exclaimed as she ran into Hakoda's arms as soon as she got out of the car.

"I'll see you later, dad," Katara said giving her father a kiss."Be good for grandpa. I love you," Katara bent down to kiss her daughter.

"Bye, Mommy," Lily said waving her hand. Both waved to Katara as she drove off.

Katara worked at JcPenny in the big mall. When Lily would start kindergarten, she wouldn't have to worry about someone watching her. Katara couldn't afford daycare so in the summer her family helped out. While sorting some clothes, she felt her iphone vibrate.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sugar Queen!" came a voice.

Katara grinned, "Toph, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Hey I'm going to Applebee's for my lunch break, wanna come with?"

"Sure, I've got some news to share with you . Listen I gotta go, I'll see you later," Katara said then hung up.

When it was time for lunch Katara drove to Applebee's to meet Toph for lunch. Once they were seated Toph asked, "How's that little bugger, Lily doing?"

"She's doing great. She's starting kindergarten in a few weeks and is excited about going to school and being a big girl," Katara's heart warmed talking about her little girl.

Toph took a gulp of her beer, "Man she's getting big."

"Lin is starting first grade, right?" Katara asked sipping her margarita.

"Yeah, her stupid ass father is still refusing to pay child support. He says he can't afford it, bullshit, he's probably gambling it or spending it at a club," Toph said. She was a single mother like Katara.

"I feel awkward around other mothers because I'm so much younger than them. I feel like they're judging me," Katara said.

"Just because those women waited till marriage to turn in their v card doesn't make you any less of a mother than they are," Toph said. The waiter brought them their food.

"Have you met any nice mothers?" Katara asked.

"Oh yeah, most mothers are just fine. Just don't let those mothers from Hampton End stick their noses up at you," Toph said biting into her burger. Hampton End was the wealthier side of town.

"Zuko's back in town," Katara announced out of the blue.

"That jerk that left you without an explanation?" Toph asked.

"Yeah," Katara said.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from him," Toph said. A part of Katara wanted to follow her friend's advice, but she was still curious about why Zuko was here after all these years.


	2. Chapter 2

Zuko rubbed his face tiredly and leaned back on his bed. He came back to 3 Oaks because he needed a reprieve from work and Mai. He thought that Mai was too clingy and needy. He wondered if Katara was still here. The two fell in love in high school and after that Zuko left. He felt regret for these past 6 years. How could he explain to Katara the real reason he left. He never did want to leave. His father ran a big business in LA and came from a wealthy background. Unfortunately he found out about Katara and wanted Zuko to end the relationship and basically threatened to disown him if he didn't leave for LA immediately. Mai also came from a wealthy background and the two were an ideal couple. Zuko honestly needed a break from the fast paced lifestyle, however there was another reason he left LA to find his high school sweetheart.

That evening Katara stood in line at Panda Express waiting to order takeout dinner for herself and Lily. Katara told the cashier what she wanted. As she was fumbling with her wallet a picture of Lily fell out without her notice.

"Here you dropped this," a voice said. Katara turned and saw Zuko holding Lily's picture.

"Thank you," she said awkwardly.

After having dinner and giving Lily her bath and then finally getting her to bed katara pulled out an album of random family pictures. There were some pictures with her and Sokka when they were kids,some of Gran Gran, her father, and even her mother when she was alive. She flipped to the part where the photos of her and Zuko were. The pair had met freshman year of highschool and started dating junior year. There were pictures of them having fun with friends, at school dances, and a few romantic ones. There was one where Katara was sitting on Zuko's lap at the park. Their noses were touching and eyes closed. There was another picture of them kissing. This was the last one they took together before Katara had gotten pregnant. While their romance lasted, it was amazing, but the end result was heartache and pain. Lily was the only good result of their love. Zuko was the last person she wanted to see. However her burning question was why Zuko left without an explanation. This might be her only chance to confront him.

Katara saw Zuko during her lunch break. She wasn't ready to really talk to him yet. The two of them made eye contact for a brief moment before looking away. Katara felt that fluttering in her heart. Those lips oh so kissable.

That night Katara was woken by a loud thunder clap. _I better go check on Lily_ she thought. The power was out so Katara grabbed a flashlight and proceeded to Lily's room. Another thunder clap sounded and Katara could hear Lily whimper. She entered Lily's room and sat down on the bed. Lily was under the covers.

"Mommy?" she called out timidly.

Thunder boomed causing Lily to shriek and scramble into her mother's lap.

"I bet you're not scared of anything," Lily said.

"No honey everybody's scared of something or other," Katara said running a hand over Lily's raven hair as she used to do when Lily was a baby.

"Do you think monsters are real?" Lily asked.

"No but I know one thing they would be scared of if they were real," Katara said a grin spreading over her face.

"What?" Lily asked.

"The tickle monster!" Katara started to tickle Lily.

"No, mommy!" Lily yelled giggling trying to escape her mother's grasp.

"I'm gonna get you," Katara teased, then blew a raspberry on Lily's stomach.

After the tickle fight mother and daughter were worn out.

"Ok, it's very late and we need our sleep," Katara said.

"Can you stay with me?" Lily asked snuggling closer to her mother.

"Sure we can sleep together for the rest if the night," Katara said. Lily was wrapped in her mother's arms.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note: The first confrontation between Zuko and Katara seems a bit awkward. Don't worry later in the story they hash it all out.

Over the next few days Katara had conflicting feelings about Zuko. Part of her wanted to give him another chance and tell him about Lily. However a part if her wanted to keep Zuko away. Lily needed a father to love and dote on her. But then again if Zuko hadn't stuck around for her then what made him think that he would be around for Lily.

2006

_Katara stared at the two pink strips on the pregnancy test._

_"Oh God this can't be happening. I'm pregnant with Zuko's baby," she muttered to herself. _

_When she told her father during a private dinner he was dumbfounded. _

_"What the hell, Katara! Your education is at stake here!" Hakoda rubbed his forehead. _

_"What are you going to do with the baby? Have you thought any of this through?" her father kept asking her. _

_Katara had lost herself in Zuko's kisses and embraces that night. The next day Zuko was gone. To think that I had feelings for him Katara thought. _

2012

I was so stupid to ever fall in love with him. Lily was the only good thing that came out of the relationship. Over the next few days she avoided Zuko which wasn't that hard to do. Katara was watching Lily on the playground one day when Zuko approached her. She wanted to do anything but be civil to him, but there were young children around so she had no choice but to be civil to him. Plus a part of her wanted to give him a second chance, but if he wanted to rebuild a relationship with her, he would have to work for it.

"Hey," Zuko said.

"Hi," was Katara's short reply.

Zuko's heart sank. Katara still appeared to be sore at him.

"Who was the kid in your photo?"

"My daughter," Katara said voice clipped.

Zuko felt anger and irritation stir in him. He didn't know Katara had a baby. However he was wondering if she was his.

"How is she?" Zuko asked wanting to break the awkward silence.

His pressing questions and his lingering presence made Katara lose her cool, "Maybe you would know if you had stuck around while I was pregnant!"

Zuko was shocked into silence. So she was his. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't stick around. You got what you wanted from me and then left me hanging dry," Katara couldn't keep the contempt out of her voice. "To make matters better your _supposed ex girlfriend _Mai sends me threatening facebook messages to stay away from you. She probably was stalking my facebook page and knew that I was with you and even after you left she also knew that I was pregnant. She basically kept harassing me until I blocked her."

Zuko would have to have a word with Mai. He didn't know he had a daughter until a few moments ago.

"Stay away from me and my daughter," Katara said getting up. "Lily it's time to go."

"But Mom-" Lily started.

"Lily I'm not in the mood, lets go," Katara said sternly. She didn't care if she ever saw Zuko again. Her world was perfectly fine with just her and Lily, why did Zuko have to waltz back in her life to make matters more complicated?

Lily looked back at the playground where Zuko was walking in the opposite direction.

"Mommy, who was that man?" she asked.

Katara didn't answer as she and Lily walked home.

Zuko tried to clear his mind once he reached home. Katara had every right to be mad at him for leaving, but he felt that she should have at least told him about their child. He felt that Lily was as much his as Katara's. His mind was still was reeling from the news that he was a father. To be honest Lily was the most beautiful little girl he'd seen. He could see that she mostly resembled him and his genes were strung through her like Christmas lights. Hopefully he could repair his and Katara's relationship. He deeply regretted letting her go and he'd give anything to have her back again. It would take awhile to regain her trust but it was worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I won't be able to update for awhile so this will have to tide you over. In this chapter we see Katara's little one starting school, and Zuko confronts Mai about Katara.

The following week passed without seeing Zuko. Lily started school and of course Katara took pictures on her first day. Afterward Katara drove Lily to the school.

"Are you ready honey?" Katara asked as they stood before the school.

"Ready Mommy!" she said grabbing her mother's hand. Lily's hair was in pigtails and she had a pretty pink backpack.

Katara dropped off her daughter at her teacher's room.

"A pleasure to meet you Mrs...," the teacher started.

"Oh I'm not married, just Katara is fine," Katara flushed.

The woman's face turned red, "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to assume-".

"It's fine, I've got to go now," giving Lily one last hug Katara hurried out.

With an hour to spare Katara headed over to the local trade college to see if she could get some information on going back to school. She had wanted to do this for some time but hadn't gotten around to it.

A friendly advisor sat down with her and talked to her.

"I've been wanting to go back to school for awhile but haven't been able to because I'm a single mother. I had Lily after graduating so I had to put my college goals on hold," Katara said. "When you have a baby at 18 you don't have a lot of options."

"At least you were able to finish high school some don't even get to do that. You seem to be very a very bright young woman. If you're interested I can give you a brochure about our programs, schedule, and financial aid," the advisor said handing Katara a few papers. "I think you would be a great asset to our program," the woman smiled.

Zuko scrolled through his contacts trying to find Mai's name. He wanted to know why she kept this information from him. This wasn't going to be a friendly conversation. Once he got down to her name he pressed the call button.

"Hello?" came Mai's voice from the other end.

"Mai, it's me," Zuko said.

"Hey! Babe, how are you?" Mai's voice sounded unusually cheerful. "I miss you, when are you coming home?"

"Mai, we need to talk," Zuko's voice was stern.

"Uh, okay, what's wrong?" Mai asked.

"Is it true you were harassing Katara awhile back? And kept it a secret from me that I have a daughter?!" Zuko's voice rose.

"What?! No, I didn't do any of that. Why are you accusing me of doing such a thing?" Mai's tone was defensive.

"Don't lie to me, I can't take it anymore," Zuko was at the end of his rope with Mai.

"Fine, I stalked her on facebook for months and then one day I see her posting pictures of a baby. At first I was confused, but then I got a closer look at the child's features just to be sure what I thought it was. Katara never mentioned the name of the father on her facebook, but I was pretty sure who the father was after looking a second time. Perhaps if you weren't sleeping around with that whore, you would be putting more effort into _our _relationship," Mai said.

"There's no more _us _anymore Mai, I've had it. You've been lying to me all this time and I've had enough. You obviously don't value whatever relationship we've had because you weren't honest with me. It was never about love with you, it was always about appearances," Zuko said wanting to get it out in the open.

"Wait, are you breaking up with me?" Mai asked incredulously.

"I guess so, and by the way don't refer to Katara that way again," Zuko hung up before Mai could say anything. He was glad to have gotten that over with, however he knew he would face his father's wrath about it eventually. Maybe LA wasn't the place for him, maybe it was here with Katara and Lily. Perhaps this could be the start of a new life.


	5. Chapter 5

AU: I honestly have writer's block concerning Zuko's POV because I didn't originally write the story that way, so sorry if there isn't much there. I'm still new to fanfiction. Again I don't own ATLA.

Zuko hung up relieved to have gotten the conversation with Mai over with, now he had to figure out how to make amends with Katara. He never wanted to leave Katara but his father basically forced him to. If Ozai disowned him Zuko would be left with no way to get an education and no way to provide for himself. Zuko also wanted to get closer to his daughter and regretted that he missed the first five years of her life. He needed a way to make things right.

Katara was greatly relieved to not have seen Zuko for a few weeks, she already had a lot on her mind. Everything seemed to be settling into a steady routine. Katara would drop Lily off at the school in the morning and picked her up in the afternoon. However one night Lily wasn't feeling too well. Lily woke Katara up in the middle of the night.

"I don't feel too good, Mommy," she moaned.

"What hurts, baby?" Katara asked in a sleepy tone.

"I hurt everywhere and I feel hot," Lily said.

Katara felt Lily's forehead, "Oh my God, you're burning up. I'm taking you to the hospital."

She carried Lily out of the apartment and dashed to her car. Once she got into the car she stuck the key into the ignition, no response. "Shit," Katara muttered. With no transportation to the hospital she called the only person she could think of at that moment. "I can not believe I'm doing this," she muttered pressing the call button.

Zuko heard his phone ring around midnight, picking it up he noticed the caller ID was Katara. Ironically, she appeared to have kept his number after all this time.

"Hello?"

"I need a ride to the hospital, my daughter has a fever and my car won't start. I'm sorry for inconveniencing you. I know I don't really have a right to ask you any fav-"

"It's okay, I'm on my way," Zuko said. He got the address then hurried over there. The trio raced to the hospital in Zuko's car. Once they arrived the nurses checked Lily in then whisked her away leaving Zuko and Katara in the waiting room.

Zuko could tell that Katara was trying hard not to cry, however he didn't know if he should try to comfort her because she might lash out at him like she did in the park. He stared at his hands, at a loss for words.

"Thanks for coming when you did," Katara said in an effort to be nice.

"No problem, anytime," Zuko said.

"So what's up with you and Mai, last I heard you two were really close," Katara asked.

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck, "Mai comes from a prominent family like mine and our families are really close. My relationship with her is more like a business agreement rather than real love."

The silence continued until Katara said, "You know after you left I found out I had been accepted into the local university. I was so happy because I had wanted to go there. However that same week I found out I was pregnant. As you can imagine Dad, Sokka, and Gran Gran weren't happy. I still miss that vase. However they became more supportive after Lily was born. I was in school until Lily was born. I just couldn't stay away from her for more than an hour and she would cry every time that I'd leave. I gave my dream of being in the medical field and focused on raising Lily. Everyday I was reminded of you because Lily looks so much like you. Do you know how much I wanted you to be in her life? Every little girl deserves a Daddy to love her. And what about us? Didn't I deserve at least an explanation for why you left?" Tears sat at the corners of Katara's eyes but they didn't fall. "I'm going to go check on Lily," she said leaving Zuko in the waiting room.


End file.
